I really wish I could scan the island first, but I am going to work on the assumption that it is floating because of the metal. If it is, then that would be enough metal to float the ship and then some. So far, I have only collected a small amount of the metal, but this island should contain a huge amount.
The bidding is fairly intense right now, the bid has already passed two million. Some of the people in the higher boxes have already joined in the bidding. If I win the bid for the island I am probably going to be pissing off more people.
"3,000,000!"
I am quickly outbid, but that is fine by me, this battle is far from being over. As the price keeps increasing, soon only the VIP boxes are still bidding. The price quickly climbs to four million, at which point most of the boxes on the second floor drop out.
"5,000,000!"
Bidder17 "5,500,000!"
Bidder66 "6,000,000!"
Bidder3 "7,000,000!"
Lin says "The bid stands at seven million! Are there any higher bids?"
"7,500,000!"
Lin says "The bid stands at seven and a half million! Are there any higher bids? Seven and a half million going once, going twice, sold!"
Henrietta says "Congratulations, Ash! You now own an island, but what are you going to do with it?"
"That depends, how did the Magic Kingdom move it here?"
Henrietta says "I believe it was a combination of magically controlled flying beasts pulling it and mages using spells to move it."
"Oh, right! It is able to float by itself, so it should be easier to move!"
Henrietta says "Well I don't know about easy, but it is possible to move it."
"It should be floating due to having floating metal inside it, right?"
Henrietta says "Yeah, it should be. At least, that is the only type of floating island I have heard of."
"So floating islands are common?!"
Henrietta says "Of course not! They are rare, but there are a few around."
"In that case I plan to break it apart and remove the metal."
Henrietta says "Why would you do that?!"
"Because I have something else I want to make float."
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Henrietta and the two merchants just give me incredulous looks and then laugh like I was joking. Luckily they don't ask anything else because I already said more than I should. It is probably because I was overly excited from winning the bid for the island.
Now I should have enough metal to float the ship and I have the stone to be a generator. All I am missing now is to figure out how to move it around and control it. I think I can do both through enchantments, but it would take a lot of mana.
Once we leave I will ask Lin for her thoughts, after all she is a powerful mage. She should have a lot of ideas, or at least knowledge that would help. I am going to stop worrying about it for now, all that can be dealt with later.
Since I still have around seven million coins left, I turn my attention back to the auction. Although, I should probably tone it down a bit or I will run out of money before the end of the auction. After all, it is currently only the fourth item and I have already spent over half my money.
The items are only going to get better and more expensive as the auction continues. The fourth item is a suit of armor, so I am not really interested in it. I highly doubt that I am going to find an armor that is better than the angel armor.
The next few items are also ones that I am not interested in, but the bidding for them is intense. The bidding for each item is taking considerably longer than the ones from the previous days. It is obvious that the total number of items auctioned will be lower today.
However, these items are being sold at much higher prices, people are going crazy with the bidding. Although, since I am also guilty of that, I can't really judge anyone for it. Lin, down on the stage, certainly looks like she is having a great time.
The crowd is now totally absorbed in the auction and has stopped discussing Lin, for now. My plan to leave as soon as the auction is over isn't going to work since I have an island to claim. That makes it even more important for me not to draw too much attention.
Of course, it is probably already too late for that, not after I won the bid for the island. However, having powerful people targeting me is different from having the entire city after my blood. Luckily, I have everything with me, so I don't need to return to the manor.
That should keep my problems from spilling over onto Henrietta and the merchant group. That is important to me, not only have they treated me fairly, but I will probably do business with them again. In fact, if I have any money left at the end of the auction I plan to hire them.
I don't have the time to wander around the continent looking for more elves. The merchant group on the other hand should be able to do so fairly easily. It will depend on how much money, if any, I have left at the end of the auction.
When the seventh item comes up, it is a controlled beast, so I turn away. Instead of watching and getting frustrated, I walk over to the table and have something to eat. However, the eighth item when it comes up is a complete and total surprise.
It is another magically controlled creature, but it isn't a beast, it is a demon. I can tell that the demon is not of a very high rank, but he has at least been able to take a human form. He is only wearing a loincloth, but the rest of his body is completely covered in black tattoos.
Those tattoos seem to be the magical method being used to control him. It is my first time seeing a spell tattooed onto someone so I am somewhat curious. However, the bidding for him is absolutely insane already and I am not that curious.
I know that the demon lands are in contact with two empires on the continent. I also know that they are not friends with those empires, but it is still a surprise to see a demon here. For one thing, capturing a demon alive can't have been easy, for another, those empires are a long way from here.
Then again, humans will do some pretty insane things in the search for profits. From the way the bidding is going, whoever brought the demon here is going to make a fortune. The bidding has already passed three million and is still going strong.
It makes sense, a controlled demon would be an extremely powerful tool. Especially since a demon can continue to grow stronger, as long as the control method holds. I would hope that whoever did the tattoos would have taken that into account.